Forming political parties, one of the worst things in Nigeria – Former governor of Akwa Ibom State

Nigeria would be better off without political parties!


That is the opinion of Victor Attah, a former founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a former governor of Akwa Ibom State.

Mr Attah said that left for him, the country would not have political parties.

Fifteen senators and 36 members of the House of Representatives, on Tuesday, defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The development is seen as a major political upset for the APC, as the country prepares for general elections in 2019.

“There was a time President Babangida called for memoranda on how we are to return to politics, my position was that there should be no parties,” Mr Attah said, July 10, in a radio interview with Inspiration 105.9 FM, Uyo, Akwa Ibom state.


Mr Attah, 79, has been involved post-independence efforts of re-writing the Nigerian constitution. He is one of the notable campaigners for true federalism in the country.

He resigned from partisan politics in 2015.

“I did not like the idea of parties. I just wanted persons to put themselves forward and then we would judge them and decide whether they are good enough for the positions they were seeking, we elect them into those positions, and that would be it.

“And if they serve us well, we re-elect them. If they didn’t serve us well, we elect somebody else to take over from them.”

Mr Attah asked if there was anybody who could give meaning to what is called political party in today’s Nigeria.


“People stay in the party, they break away and form a new branch of that party, they go into something else, they break away and form a reformed branch of that other thing that they went into.

“So, what is the meaning of party? Party should be based on ideology, you should subscribe to an ideology. If you subscribe to an ideology, certainly you cannot be so fickle that you want to change your ideology so often,” he said.

With what is going on in the country, he said, political parties are just platforms for people to stand election.

“I still believe that forming parties was one of the worst things that happened to Nigeria,” he said.